The Campaign (ModernTabletop Gaming AU)
by Laboon's Wrath
Summary: Sometimes, the players just don't want to cooperate with the GM. Mako knows that better than anyone at this point.


"I have the pizza!" Opal cheered as she bounded into the room with a stack of delivery boxes tall enough to cover her face. She set the boxes on an old chair covered in dried cheese and grease that had long ago been dubbed the "Pizza Chair," before sliding into her seat next to Bolin. Her best friend was beaming, staring down at the character sheet and handcrafted clay model he had made of his latest PC.

"Mako's gonna love this one," he whispered to Opal, elbowing her as he did so.

Opal smiled politely, choosing not to point out that whenever Bolin said Mako would love one of his PCs, the opposite was usually the case.

"Alright," Mako said, finally finished setting up his Game Master screen. "Last time I introduced you all to the setting and campaign details, then sent all of you home with the instructions for character creation. Today, we'll be starting the campaign, after we go over our characters. I'm… _eager_ … to see what masterpieces you've come up with. Anyone want to go first?"

Bolin's hand shot into the air.

Mako sighed. "Is it Nuktuk again, Bolin?"

"Yes," Bolin said, "but there's a twist this time!"

"There's _always_ a 'twist,' Bolin," Mako said with a twinge of annoyance.

"See, this time," Bolin explained, "he's got a club and furs for the +2 to Dex and he _also_ has a bow and arrow to take advantage of the bonus!"

"Bolin," Mako said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "this is a science-fiction campaign."

"I know!" Bolin grinned. "That's the best part! I really doubled down on the backstory this time, bro. He's a man out of time! Trapped in an era not his own, trying desperately to return to his own time! I think maybe he'll become a samurai at some point. We could have stuff about time travel, and culture shock, and-"

"No," Mako said, crossing his arms.

Bolin frowned. "But _Mako_ -"

" _No_ ," Mako said, more firmly this time. "Come up with something else while the rest of us introduce our characters. Opal, I trust you more than him, help him out."

"You're going to have to start paying me to do this at some point," Opal laughed.

"Remind me after the session. Who's next? Asami?"

Asami smiled and tapped her thick stack of notes on the table. "My character is a rogue," she explained. "She's a half-Oarafiran born on the prison world of Carcerous. You said that Oarafirans suffered from mistrust and discrimination, so she takes a permanent hit to Reputation and Charisma, but as a tradeoff I got bonuses in most of my class skills." 

"Minmaxing, Asami? Really?" Korra shook her head in disgust. "I'd expect that of Tahno, but not you."

"Hey!" Opal cut in. "We promised no Tahno talk after I came in to replace him."

"Right, sorry," Korra apologized. "Right, Asami, go on. Explain more about your character who is not a healer like we discussed."

"I played healer the last three campaigns!" Asami said, glaring at Korra. "I want to try something different!"

"No fighting!" Mako scowled. "Let's at least get the party together before we let it fall apart. Asami, any more backstory?"

"Her name is Chani," Asami explained, flipping through her notes. "Her father was murdered by police, giving her an intense hatred for authority. Should create some fun complications when dealing with the law. She's driven to find, rescue, and protect her kidnapped sisters."

"As usual, Asami actually takes things seriously," Mako said with an appreciative smile. "Korra, what've you got?"

Korra smirked and fanned herself with her character sheet. "Her name is Nukka," Korra said. "She's a Galactic Paladin who can use both space magic-"

"Biotics," Mako corrected.

"-And her laser sword," Korra continued. "She defected from the Paladins after discovering the corruption in their ranks and now fights against the tyranny of the Empire of Space as a revolutionary."

Mako narrowed his eyes. "Korra," he said, "that's the exact same kind of character you played last time."

"Yeah, and I kicked ass last time," Korra laughed. "Your point? At least _I_ made it fit the setting."

Mako sighed. He had to concede _that_ , at least. "Opal?" he said. "You mind taking a break and telling us about your character?"

"Oh, Bolin's done," Opal said. "We were just waiting for you to come back around. But sure, I'll talk about my character. Her name is Silica. She was a Space Ranger before being framed for a crime she didn't commit. Now she's searching for the revolutionaries so that she can join the fight against the Empire of Space."

"Sounds like someone Nukka would be _very_ interested in getting to know," Korra remarked. Opal blushed.

"And Bolin?" Mako said. "What have you got now?"

"The name is John," Bolin said in a hushed, dramatic tone of voice. "Head Samurai of Ancient Japan, John was sent forwards in time by an evil demon. Now, he has to find and kill the Emperor of Space with his new laser sword so that he can learn the location of the portal that will send him back home. Also, he has a laser bow and laser arrows because I'm not giving up that +2 to Dex."

Mako shot a look at Opal, who shrugged and said "he was really insistent about the whole 'man out of time' angle."

Mako sighed and flipped open the campaign guide. "Alright," he said, "let's get started. I already explained the campaign so we'll just jump right into the first encounter. 'You sit together in a prison cell, awaiting your execution at the hands of the Empire of Space. The walls of the cell are completely smooth, with nowhere to grab onto or climb. The cell door suddenly slides open, and a medium-sized mech with a red "R" written on its chest floats in. In a mechanical monotone, it says-'"

"I attack!" Korra blurted. "I use DNA Missile!"

"What?!" Mako explained. "Korra, wait, the mech is with the Rev-"

Not listening or possibly just not caring, Korra seized the dice from the middle of the table and rolled. "20 and 20!" she said happily. "Critical success!"

Mako buried his face in his hands. "Well, there's ten pages of notes into the shredder after the session," he groaned. "Alright. Fine. You blast the robot apart before it can tell you it's from the Revolutionaries and was sent to rescue you. As it falls apart, the jammer inside it that kept the alarms from going off is disabled, and klaxons ring out all through the facility. Guards are on their way, in force."

Korra grinned. "Awesome!" she said. "We're gonna get a ton of XP right off the bat! This campaign rules!"

Mako rolled his eyes. "Every damn time," he muttered. He couldn't remember a single time that a campaign had gone the way he had intended with these idiots.

And, maybe a bit because of that, there was no group of people he'd rather play with.


End file.
